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THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



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THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

November 30, 1864 

The Bloodiest Engagement of the War Between 
the States 



By 
R. W. BANKS 

Captain Company D, Thirty-seventh Mississippi Consoli- 
dated Infantry; Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding 
Third Mississippi Infantry, United States 
Volunteers, Spanish-American War. 




New York and Washington 

THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1908 



PJ 



I OCT IS ^^^^ I 



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Copyright, 1908, by 
The Neale Publishing Company 



To the memory of Edward Gary Walt- 
hall, a Major-General in the Confederate 
States Army and, later, United States Sen- 
ator from Mississippi. A patriot-soldier of 
knightly counsel and heroic deed; a states- 
man of lofty ideals, pure in purpose and 
sturdy in performance; and a sage to whom 
duty to his people was duty to God, this 
great Mississippian lived without fear and 
died without reproach. 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

The battle of Franklin, Tennessee, No- 
vember 30, 1864, was, on some parts of the 
line, the bloodiest of the Civil War. 

Never on any field did braver men go. 
Nor did men ever dare and do more than was 
done by the Confederates to whom it fell to 
bear the heat and burden of that fateful day. 
That much will be demonstrated in the fol- 
lowing narrative so plainly that the assertion 
may hereafter be accepted as a historic truth ; 
for no statement of material fact will be made 
which the writer is not prepared to authenti- 
cate. 

To place a proper estimate upon the prow- 
ess of the Army of Tennessee at Franklin it 
is necessary to keep in mind its antecedents, 
in the then recent past. Within the preced- 
ing six months it had braved the hardships 
and dangers of the memorable Georgia cam- 



10 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

paign, "The One Hundred Days' Fighting," 
under Johnston and Hood, respectively. 
From Dalton to Atlanta there were conflicts 
nearly every day. Almost every mile of the 
distance was marked by the blood of the 
bravest and best in the rank and file of that 
splendid body of men, composed of the flower 
and chivalry of the Southern States. These 
conflicts were not limited to mere exchange of 
shots between sharpshooters, firing between 
advance posts, or fighting on skirmish lines. 

Serious trouble began May 9, 1864, at 
Rocky Face and Resaca, and there was little 
let up until the close of the following Decem- 
ber, after Hood's heroically planned but un- 
fortunately executed advance into Tennessee. 

Joseph E. Johnston was superseded in the 
command of the Army of Tennessee by John 
B. Hood, July 18, 1864. That army, on the 
6th of the preceding May, with the reinforce- 
ments it received during the next two weeks, 
numbered something like 70,000 effective 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN n 

men, all branches of the service included. Its 
headquarters were at Dalton, Georgia. 

About this time Sherman set his forces in 
motion, and active operations between the 
two hostile armies were commenced, which 
resulted in Johnston's withdrawal from Dal- 
ton on the night of May 13. 

For the next two months it was advance 
and retreat — Sherman forward, Johnston 
backward. With the troops under the latter, 
retreating became well-nigh a regular pro- 
cedure. 

In the beginning the retrograde movement 
was in nowise discouraging to those executing 
the orders, for it was regarded as strategic 
rather than essential to the life of the army. 

At Cassville the following famous "battle 
order" of Johnston was issued, and read to 
regiments : 



12 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

"Headquarters Army of Tennessee, 
"Cassville, Georgia, May 19, 1864. 
"General Orders No. — 

"Soldiers of the Army of Tennessee, you 
have displayed the highest quality of the sol- 
dier — firmness in combat, patience under toil. 
By your courage and skill you have repulsed 
every assault of the enemy. By marches by 
day and by marches at night, you have de- 
feated every attempt upon your communica- 
tions. Your communications are secured. 

"You will now turn and march to meet his 
advancing columns. Fully confiding in the 
conduct of the officers, the courage of the sol- 
diers, I lead you to battle. We may confi- 
dently trust that the Almighty Father will 
still reward the patriot's toils and bless the 
patriot's banners. Cheered by the success of 
our brothers in Virginia and beyond the Mis- 
sissippi, our efforts will be crowned with the 
like glories. 

"J. E. JOHNSTON, 

"General." 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



13 



These commendatory and cheering words 
of the commanding general were received 
with enthusiasm. They persuaded his faith- 
ful followers that on the morrow there was 
to be serious work for both armies. To be 
sure, the thought in every man's mind, and 
more or less disturbing, was as to what his in- 
dividual fate might be; but all were inspired 
by confidence, and there was little doubt as 
to which side the victory would fall. The 
writer, then a mere stripling, was sergeant- 
major of the Thirty-seventh Mississippi In- 
fantry, but acting aide-de-camp to Colonel 
Virgil Murphy, Seventeenth Alabama In- 
fantry, who, in the absence of Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Cantey, was in command of the latter's 
brigade, and well remembers the impression 
made by the promulgation of that order. 
We felt sure there was to be a hot time, but 
all believed that "Old Joe" knew what he was 
about, and that he, at last, "had Sherman 
where he wanted him." But it was not to be 



14 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



that Johnson should on that occasion lead us 
to battle. A few hours later an order came 
for details to be made, which were to hammer 
and make a noise, as though erecting fortifi- 
cations. Before midnight, following his lead, 
we silently stole away. 

The failure to give battle at Cassvllle was 
a disappointment, but there was little if any 
fault-finding indulged. Confidence In Gen- 
eral Johnston was unshaken. The writer has 
before him now a number of letters written 
to members of his family during that period, 
and below is a verbatim extract from one 
which voiced his boyish sentiments, and is a 
fair reflex of the feeling of the men in the 
ranks at that day. It was penned, as the 
reader will perceive, for the eyes of his family 
only, and the youthful candor and pride it 
displays will, he trusts, be therefore par- 
doned. He had recently been on duty under 
different officers, at brigade headquarters, as 
acting aide-de-camp, and had returned to his 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 15 

regiment, which accounts for the allusion to 
different officers under whom he had served. 
The extract is as follows : 

"Bivouac, Thirty-seventh Mississippi, 
"Cantey's Brigade, Polk's Corps, 
"Near Atlanta, Georgia, May 23, 1864. 
"Dear Father and Mother: 

"All is quiet along the front this lovely 
May morning, although there was slight skir- 
mishing yesterday afternoon, and we were or- 
dered to hold ourselves in readiness to move 
at a moment's warning. 

"General Johnston has repeatedly offered 
the enemy battle, which he has as often de- 
clined, preferring a flank movement to a gen- 
eral engagement. The Army of Tennessee 
has been forced to fall back because of Sher- 
man's superiority in numbers. It may turn 
out all for the best — let us trust so, at all 
events. Remember that McClellan once said, 
'Beware of Johnston's retreats.' The troops 
are in fine spirits and eager for a decisive 
fight. All are hopeful, and confident of sue- 



1 5 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

cess. In the past fortnight our troops have 
undergone many hardships — have endured 
without murmur marches by day and marches 
by night. Thus far the loss of this brigade, 
in killed and wounded, amounts to about 250. 
We have only three regiments — Seventeenth 
and Twenty-ninth Alabama and Thirty-sev- 
enth Mississippi. By the providence of Him 
who doeth all things well, I have escaped un- 
hurt, and have the consciousness of knowing 
that I have done my whole duty, and have the 
approval of every officer I have served under; 
and, though I have been unwell at times, I 
have never been away from my post even for 
a few minutes. 

"Everything is now uncertain. None can 
tell whether the next movement will be a re- 
trograde or forward one, but all are of the 
opinion that it will be for the best, regardless 
of direction." 

The monotony of falling back was broken 
by much fatigue duty. For nine or ten weeks 
the order of business seemed to be fortifying 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 17 

by day and falling back by night. General 
Hood grimly and stinglngly sized up the situ- 
ation in an official report subsequently made, 
when, with pardonable bitterness and epi- 
grammatic terseness, he said: "The men be- 
came travelers by night and laborers by day. 
They were ceasing to be soldiers by the disuse 
of military duty. Thus for seventy-four days 
and nights that noble army, which, if ordered 
to resist, no force that the enemy could as- 
semble could dislodge from a battlefield, con- 
tinued to abandon their country, to see their 
strength departing, and their flag waving only 
in retreat or in partial engagements." 

This routine under Johnston was, it is true, 
sufficiently varied by fighting to admit of his 
losing, without a single general engagement, 
according to Hood, more than "22,750 of 
his best soldiers." 

Between Generals Johnston and Hood 
there is a discrepancy as to the actual losses 
of the army in the campaign during the 



1 8 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

period from May 6 to July i8, while the for- 
mer was in command, but General Johnston 
practically admitted that, in killed and 
wounded alone, from Dalton to Atlanta, his 
loss aggregated 9772, taking no account of 
losses from disease, desertion, and prisoners. 
So, I take it. General Hood was approxi- 
mately correct in the figures used. 

Be that as it may, when Hood assumed 
command a new order of things was without 
delay established. Under the leadership of 
this one-legged hero it soon became evident 
that traveling by night and laboring by day 
was not to be a fixed habit of the survivors 
of the so-called Fabian policy of General 
Johnston, under which the army daily grew 
smaller in numbers and weaker in spirit. 
Within forty-eight hours after Johnston was 
relieved. Hood, spurning his predecessor's 
precaution and preparations for retreat, had 
arranged to give battle to Sherman. Thus, 
about the middle of the afternoon of July 20, 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



19 



the ball opened, and soon the battle of Peach 
Tree Creek was on. 

Two days later there was more trouble 
growing out of Hood's aggressive spirit. In 
his report, April 5, 1865, to S. Cooper, Adju- 
tant and Inspector General, Lieu tenant-Gen- 
eral Hardee characterized "the engagement 
of the 22nd of July, 1864," as "one of the 
most desperate and bloody of the war, and 
which won the only decided success achieved 
by the army at Atlanta." 

The extracts below, from two letters by the 
author of this article, explain themselves, and 
will be of interest as showing something of 
the morale of the army at the date on which 
they were written. The writer was then act- 
ing aide-de-camp to Colonel E. A. O'Neal, 
whose regiment, the Twenty-sixth Alabama, 
had a short time previously been assigned to 
Cantey's brigade, of which O'Neal, as senior 
colonel, was in command. 



20 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

"Headquarters Cantey's Brigade, 
"Walthall's Division, 
"Near Atlanta, July 25, 1864. 
"Dear Father: 

"I have only time to write a hurried note. 
I am safe, and well, so far. Army in good 
spirits, and confidence in General Hood una- 
bated. The grief for loss of General John- 
ston was painful, but borne by the troops in 
silence. His removal fell upon us so unex- 
pectedly that it made all feel sad, but we do 
not lack confidence in our present commander. 
I passed through battle of Peach Tree Creek 
on the 20th instant unhurt. The brigade lost 
287 in all. The Thirty-seventh Mississippi, 
Colonel Holland commanding, captured 152 
prisoners. Adams's brigade not engaged on 
that evening, and our friends in Fourteenth 
and Forty-third Mississippi safe." 

Again, on the same date: 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 2 1 

"Headquarters Cantey's Brigade, 
"Near Atlanta, 7 o'clock P. M., 
July 25, 1864. 
"Dear Father: 

"I wrote a hurried note this morning, but, 
having another and better opportunity for 
mailing a letter, write again now in greater 
haste than before. 

"It seems to be General Hood's policy to 
give the enemy battle here, if he can do so 
with any prospects of success. 

"We whipped them in the fight the other 
day. [Alluding to July 22, in which the 
writer's command, Stewart's corps, was not 
engaged.] 

"On the 20th instant our brigade was en- 
gaged. Colonel Holland and his regiment 
distinguished themselves, driving the enemy 
from the trenches and planting the colors of 
the Thirty-seventh Mississippi on his works 
in advance of the brigade. In addition to 
this, they captured 152 prisoners. Out of 
210 men, he lost only 48, so rapid was his 
charge." 



22 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

Six days later, July 28, near Ezra Church, 
there was another fierce engagement. That 
some idea may be had of its severity, a brief 
extract from Major-General Walthall's re- 
port of the operations of his division, to which 
the writer belonged, will here be given. Says 
the report: 

"I found him [the enemy] in strong posi- 
tion and large force on a hill in front, and 
failed to dislodge him after vigorous and per- 
sistent effort, in which I lost 152 officers and 
nearly 1000 men, considerably over one-third 
my force." 

Then, on the 31st of August, and Septem- 
ber I, the battle of Jonesborough was 
fought, in which the loss, on the 3 ist, of Lee's 
corps, alone, amounted to "about 1300 men 
killed and wounded," according to General 
S. D. Lee's official report. 

After defending Atlanta for about six 
weeks, and fighting four battles, to say noth- 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



23 



ing of skirmishes and cavalry fights, Hood 
retired from the city, and the enemy entered 
it September i, the Army of Tennessee be- 
ing within a few days thereafter concentrated 
near Lovejoy Station. There it remained 
for recuperation, and such reorganization as 
was deemed necessary and practicable, after 
the arduous campaign it had undergone. 

Here the war-worn veterans were compara- 
tively at rest until September 18, when the 
movement to Palmetto commenced. At Pal- 
metto we remained a week or ten days. 
There the army received a visit from Presi- 
dent Davis, who reviewed it September 26. 

September 26 it started on its offensive 
operations to Sherman's rear and on his line 
of communication. By the middle of Octo- 
ber it was back at Dalton, having destroyed 
many miles of railroad between Atlanta and 
that point. A month later (November 14) 
it was at South Florence, and six days there- 
after crossed the Tennessee River on a pon- 



24 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



toon bridge at Florence, en route to Tennes- 
see. The roads In places were In fearful 
condition, and the horses so poor and jaded 
that entire regiments were detailed to help 
the artillery along, the combined strength of 
horses and men often being required to get 
the pieces up the hills. 

It would be Interesting, perhaps, to give 
an account of the march to Franklin, and 
the stirring things that occurred by the way, 
especially of the serious error at Spring Hill, 
In which there Is no lack of evidence that 
^'sorne one had blundered." But let us hurry 
forward. 

On the morning of the 30th of November 
the army was near Franklin, Tennessee, hav- 
ing marched over 500 miles since leaving Pal- 
metto, Georgia, just two months before, and 
suffered much from hard weather In Novem- 
ber, and from want of clothing, shoes, blank- 
etc, etc. The Inner man, too, had had dis- 
comforts to a degree to cause much suffering 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



25 



from the pangs of hunger. There were times 
when in some of the commands rations of 
corn, three ears to a man, were issued, and 
occasionally nothing but cornmeal was to be 
had. It was a time that tried the strength 
and spirit of soldiers to the limit, and yet the 
fortitude of the veterans of this indomitable 
army proved equal to every emergency. Their 
patient endurance is worthy of the highest 
praise, for it was unsurpassed save by the 
dauntless courage they displayed in the battle 
by night, as well as by day, on that Wednes- 
day of terrible, yet glorious, memories, at the 
close of November, 1864. 

It is not the purpose of this narration 
to describe in detail the battle of Franklin. 
To relate with particularity the exact part 
borne in it by each Mississippi command, and 
make mention of every case of conspicuous 
individual gallantry exhibited by Mississip- 
pians alone on that bloody field, would require 
a special edition of a great daily newspaper. 



26 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

The consensus of opinion of the fierceness of 
the fight can be arrived at from accounts of 
those of the commanding officers engaged 
who survived to tell the tale, and from the 
concurrent testimony of painstaking histori- 
ans. Among the latter, President Jefferson 
Davis in his book, "The Rise and Fall of the 
Confederate States Government," refers to it 
as "one of the bloodiest battles of the war," 
in which the Confederates "won a victory, 
but at a fearful cost" 

The New England Historian, Fiske, men- 
tions : 

"The escape of Schofield's little army that 
seems marvellous. * * * Again and 
again they [the Confederates at Franklin] 
renewed the attack with bravery and perti- 
nacity almost incredible. But against the 
storm of grape and canister and musketry in 
front, with the enfilading fire of the batteries 
across the river, no human gallantry could 
stand. * * * When we bear in mind 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



27 



that the battle of Franklin began at four 
o'clock in the short afternoon of the last day 
of November, the destruction of life seems 
awful. More than 8000 men were killed 
and wounded — nearly 6000 on the Confeder- 
ate side, about 2300 on the Union. * * * 
The losses of the Confederates bore melan- 
choly testimony to their magnificent fighting. 
Especially noticeable was the loss of officers, 
including eleven generals. Among the dead 
was Patrick Cleburne, 'the bravest of the 
brave.' " 

Colonel Henry Stone, of General Thomas's 
staff, in ''Battles and Leaders," page 446, 
says : 

"The afternoon and night of November 
29, 1864, may well be set down in the calen- 
dar of lost opportunities. * * * 'pj^g 
heroic valor of the same troops the next day 
[at Franklin] and their frightful losses as 
they attempted to retrieve their mistake 
shows what might have been." 



28 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

Again he says: 

*'It is impossible to exaggerate the fierce 
energy with which the Confederate soldiers 
that short November afternoon (November 
30, 1864) threw themselves against the 
works, fighting with what seemed the mad- 
ness of despair." 

In a paper prepared nearly thirty years 
ago, and read before the Southern Historical 
Society of Louisville, Kentucky, D. W. San- 
ders, major and assistant adjutant-general of 
French's division, Stewart's corps, furnishes 
valuable testimony. 

That the Major's evidence may be prop- 
erly weighed it should be borne in mind he 
participated in the battle and was an alert, 
observant, accomplished officer. Indeed, to 
the excellence of his record for conspicuous 
courage and efiicient soldierly conduct, as well 
as to his high character, intelligence and pa- 
triotism, is due his retention in the capacity of 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 29 

assistant adjutant-general by Walthall when 
that nonpareil major-general, the youngest 
commander of his rank in the army, was 
turned to, December 20, 1864, ^nd preferred 
by both Hood and Forrest, as the officer best 
equipped to command the rear-guard of the 
ill-fated Confederates. 

It was at the time when Thomas was ag- 
gressively endangering Hood's escape after 
the calamitous disasters, December 15 and 16, 
1864, which shattered the Army of Tennes- 
see and practically destroyed its organization; 
crushed the ambitions of its ill-starred leader; 
dissipated every dream of success for the 
cause it upheld; drove hope from the hearts 
of its private soldiers, and filled the souls of 
its officers with despair. And yet, it should 
be added, gloomy, helpless and hopeless as 
the situation then was for Hood and his deci- 
mated legions, the moment it became known 
to the rank and file of his dispirited followers 
that the knightly Walthall's sword was be- 



30 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



tween them and the advance of the flushed 
pursuing Federals, dismay fled before return- 
ing spirit, and confidence, in a measure, was 
restored. 

From the foregoing it is plain that the testi- 
mony of Major Sanders is that of an eye-wit- 
ness fully competent to reach correct conclu- 
sions and give accurate expression thereto. 

What he said now follows : 

"The Federal troops received the charging 
lines with steadiness and courage, and their 
fire was the most rapid and destructive of any 
during the war. The fire of small-arms and 
artillery was so heavy, constant, and incessant 
that great clouds of smoke 'hung like a pall 
of universal darkness' over that fatal field, 
and completely obscured the movements of 
the assaulting lines except when the flashes of 
musketry lifted it like rifts in the clouds, and 
then could be seen, and only for the instant, 
the forms of men in the lines, with their regi- 
mental colors, waver and reel to the ground, 
fatally stricken, as the dense smoke again 
settled, to be lifted, again and again, by sue- 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



31 



ceeding and rapidly successive flashes. On 
one part of the Federal lines, fronting the 
right of the Confederates, the musketry was 
rapid, constant and destructive, and was 
almost alive with fire from the incessant 
flashes. Line after line was hurled on the 
works, but, in each and in every instance, the 
brave and heroic men were repulsed with a 
loss of life fearful to contemplate. Oflicers 
and men, with their regimental colors, lay 
thick on that field from the abatis, in front of 
the works, where Featherstone's and Adams's 
men were piled, in some instances seven deep 
on each other, in the outer ditch, to the rifle- 
pits, where lay the manly form of Colonel 
Garland, of Cockr ell's brigade, who was the 
first killed in French's division as it crossed 
the rifle-pits. 

^ jfs ^ ^ ^ 

"The Confederate loss in the battle was 
appalling. The exact number will never be 
known. A report of the killed in French's 
division has never been made, and now can 
not be. This division, as an organization, 
was destroyed in the Tennessee campaign. 
Cockrell's brigade carried into action 680 



32 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



effectives, and left on the field 419. 
Quarles's brigade of Tennessee troops, of 
Walthall's division, was carried into action by 
General Quarles, and came out under the 
command of a captain. No army at any time 
ever responded to the call of its commander 
with greater courage and assaulted breast- 
works with more individual gallantry and 
heroism than Hood's soldiers at Franklin." 

General Hood makes especial mention of 
"the extraordinary gallantry and desperate 
fighting witnessed on the field." In his offi- 
cial report he says: 

"The troops moved forward most gallant- 
ly to the attack. We carried the enemy's first 
line of hastily constructed works handsomely. 
We then advanced against his interior line, 
and succeeded in carrying it also in some 
places. Here the engagement was of the 
fiercest possible character. Our men pos- 
sessed themselves of the exterior of the works, 
while the enemy held the interior. Many 
of our men were killed entirely inside the 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



33 



works. The brave men captured were taken 
inside his works or on the edge of the town. 
The struggle lasted until near midnight, when 
the enemy abandoned his works and crossed 
the river, leaving his dead and wounded in 
our possession. 

"Never did troops fight more gallantly. 
* * * We captured about a thousand 
prisoners and several stands of colors. Our 
loss in killed, wounded and prisoners was 
4500. Among the killed was Major-General 
P. R. Cleburne, Brigadier-Generals Gist, 
John Adams, Strahl and Granberry. Major- 
General Brown, Brigadier-Generals Carter, 
Manigault, Quarles, Cockrell and Scott were 
wounded, and Brigadier-General Gordon was 
captured." 

Lieutenant-General Stephen D. Lee, an 
officer of much experience, whose rapid pro- 
motion from one grade to another was almost 
unparalleled on either side in the Civil War, 
says: 
3 



34 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



^'The enemy fought gallantly and obsti- 
nately at Franklin, and the position he held 
was, for the infantry defense, one of the best 
I have ever seen." 

Elsewhere In his report he makes mention 
as follows : 

"The brigades of Sharp and Brantley 
[Mississippi] and Deas [Alabama] particu- 
larly distinguished themselves. Their dead 
were mostly in the trenches and outer works 
of the enemy, where they nobly fell in a des- 
perate hand-to-hand conflict. Sharp cap- 
tured three stands of colors. Brantley was 
exposed to severe enfilade fire. These noble 
brigades never faltered In the terrible night 
struggle. I have never seen greater evi- 
dences of gallantry than was displayed by this 
division." 

And just here It Is proper to record an inci- 
dent, unsurpassed in the annals of war for the 
high courage displayed, in which a Missis- 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



2S 



sippi youth — a mere boy — of Sharp's brigade 
was the central figure. That General Jacob 
H. Sharp should have borne himself with 
conspicuous bravery on any field, at any time, 
and under any circumstances, is not to be won- 
dered at by those who knew him in those 
eventful days, when he was in the flush of glo- 
rious manhood. Handsome of figure, debon- 
air and dashing, * 'danger seemed to be his ele- 
ment, and he rejoiced in combat." His pres- 
ence, when the conflict raged, was an inspira- 
tion to his men, who willingly followed where 
he led — and usually he was in the thickest of 
the fray. 

Before introducing the incident and the 
hero, let us for a moment notice the report of 
Generals Hood and Lee. 

It is a noteworthy fact that General Hood 
reports, "We captured several stands of col- 
ors," and General Lee says, "Sharp captured 
three stands of colors." 

General Hood's statement is indefinite, ex- 



36 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



cept as to the fact "several stands of colors" 
were taken; but General Lee's Is definite, 
both as to number captured and the command 
which took them. The tale, as told by Lee, 
embraces only a dozen words, but they recite 
a historic fact replete with patriotism and 
valor, and establish beyond peradventure how 
Sharp and his "High Pressure" Mlsslsslp- 
plans bore off the honors and added to the 
imperishable renown of the State, by their 
sublime heroism on the soul-trying, bloody oc- 
casion. Let me add. In passing, that It Is also 
a historic fact that only three stands of colors 
were officially reported as captured by the 
Confederates at Franklin, and to General 
"Jake" Sharp and his command the honor for 
their capture Is solely due. There may have 
been, and doubtless were, other colors cap- 
tured or more accurately, perhaps, "picked 
up" on the field the next day, but. If so, no 
report of them was made to, or by. General 
Hood, and there is no official evidence of it. 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 3-7 

Ed. Russell (now Honorable E. L. Rus- 
sell, the distinguished vice-president and ex- 
ecutive officer of the Mobile and Ohio Rail- 
road Company) was color-bearer of a Mis- 
sissippi regiment in the "High Pressure Bri- 
gade" — an appellation the command had won 
for distinction on many fields. In the charge 
of Johnston's division, Russell reached the in- 
ner breastworks of the Federals and planted 
his colors there. 

So far as the writer knows, the only public 
mention ever made of Russell's unsurpassed 
conduct was that of General Sharp, when a 
member of the Legislature of Mississippi, an 
account of which will now be given. 

The Legislature of Mississippi (1900- 
1902) was in session. A railroad bill of im- 
portance was up for consideration by the 
House, and excited such interest that many 
railway representatives were at the capital 
lobbying, it was alleged, for its passage. For 
a time the result was in doubt, and it looked 



38 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



to the friends of the measure as though the 
day was lost. Certain members opposing the 
bill fought it fiercely and, with more or less 
unfairness, appeals to passion and prejudice 
were freely made by opponents of the bill 
through flings at the railroad men present, 
who. It was charged, were spending money 
and extending courtesies with open hands, in 
the wish and purpose to influence the Legis- 
lature. 

It was at this juncture General Sharp, fee- 
ble and emaciated from increasing years and 
the effects of recent Ill-health, arose to ad- 
dress the House. At the moment he was 
suffering from a severe cold — bordering on 
pneumonia. His voice which in years gone 
by was strong and clear, and often in the 
shock of battle rang out like a clarion call 
when danger was abroad and there was music 
in the air, was now so weak and hoarse that 
It at first could scarcely reach the Speaker's 
stand. But as he warmed to his subject It 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 39 

was seen ''there's life in the old land yet," 
and if the veteran soldier had lost much of his 
strength he still retained the spirit and some 
of the fire of his younger years. 

The Speaker, Honorable A. J. Russell — 
"Jud" Russell of blessed memory, may his 
soul enjoy eternal bliss! — ^was in the chair. 
When General Sharp arose to address the 
body no one knew his position, and all eyes 
turned to him in close attention. He said: 

"Mr. Speaker, I feel a delicacy in project- 
ing myself into a discussion almost purely lo- 
cal. I do so to show the advocates, and the 
opponents, of the bill how it looks to an out- 
sider. I have cause to observe that while the 
House is sometimes influenced by what a man 
says, it is more influenced by the surroundings 
of the man who says it. A railroad man 
might speak until he was hoarse, and it would 
have no effect on the anti-railroaders; an 
anti-railroad man might speak until the argu- 
ment was exhausted, and it would have no ef- 



40 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

feet on the railroaders. I therefore define 
my position. 

"Personally, I know but one railroad man 
in the universe, but my love for him is so 
great that I feel kindly to the whole railroad 
tribe. For four years he was my comrade — 
he bore the colors of one of the regiments of 
brave Mississippians who carved with their 
bayonets the names of Mississippians beside 
the names of the bravest and most patriotic 
people who ever struggled to establish for 
themselves an independent nationality. I 
have seen him plant his colors upon an 
enemy's works, while his rejoicing comrades 
rallied around him. That man, Mr. Speaker, 
is your brother and my friend. For years 
he has been, and is now, a prominent official 
of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. This 
man, gentlemen of the House, is one of those 
terrible railroad vampires who is sucking the 
life-blood out of the people of the State of 
Mississippi; this man is that terrible railioad 
'octopus' who is seeking to clutch in his de- 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



41 



stroylng grasp the very people whom he of- 
fered his young life to protect." 

Here he faltered — he was losing his voice. 
The pause was of short duration, and he re- 
sumed with renewed energy: 

"I must say, Mr. Speaker, that those dis- 
reputable railroad lobbyists who are overrun- 
ning us, are either the most stupid set of 
lobbyists or the most considerate or clever set 
I have ever met ; not one of them has sought 
to be presented to me, has sent me his card or 
has complimented me with a bottle of wine. 
Now, having defined my position, I will ad- 
dress myself to the facts in the case." 

At this point his voice again failed — went 
off into a hoarse whisper that could not be 
heard at a distance of ten feet. Unable to 
proceed, he yielded the floor to Honorable 
Eaton J. Bowers (now a member of Congress 
from Mississippi), of Bay St. Louis, who, 
with consummate tact, called for a vote, which 



42 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



was taken, and the bill carried by a gratifying 
majority. 

In describing the occasion, the Clarion- 
Ledger made the following comments: 

"When the General lost his voice some of 
the members of the House who were near him 
raised a cry, 'Go on, General; go on; if you 
can't talk, whisper!' It was as much the 
manner of the delivery as the matter that 
reached the hearts of his hearers, and, when 
the speech was over, big-hearted Major Var- 
daman [since then elected Governor of Mis- 
sissippi] made his way to the General, clasp- 
ing his hand in both of his, saying, 'God bless 
you, God bless you !' 

"United States District Attorney Lee came, 
and leaning over him said, 'General, I could 
not help it; I had to cry while listening to 
your heartfelt tribute to my friend Ed. Rus- 
sell' 

"A lady, calling a member of the House, 
said, 'Tell General Sharp I love him.' 

"Judge Mayes said, 'General, your voice 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



43 



failed you at a most happy moment. It was 
a tribute of which any man might well be 
proud.' " 

Beautiful and touching as is General 
Sharp's tribute to Honorable E. L. Russell, 
it does not enter into details with the pre- 
cision desirable to the historian. Had he 
done that he would have brought out the facts 
to establish the incident, with historic fidelity, 
as having occurred at the battle of Franklin, 
Tennessee, November 30, 1864. The hero- 
ism of it deserves more than passing notice. 
It is worthy of historic record, and should be 
commemorated for the evidence it furnishes 
of the cool courage and intrepid patriotic 
spirit of the Confederate volunteer — of the 
American patriot soldier — of whom young 
Russell was a splendid type. 

The circumstances, briefly related, were 
these: E. L. Russell, when sixteen years of 
age, volunteered in the Confederate States 



44 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

Army and was enlisted in January, 1862, in 
Company E, Forty-first Mississippi Infantry. 
Passing over his honest and faithful service 
from January, 1862, to July, 1864, in which 
he creditably participated in many a hard- 
fought battle, we find him with his regiment 
at the battle of Jonesboro, August 31, 1864. 
The command was in line of battle and about 
ready to advance. The color-bearer was 
taken suddenly ill, and the commanding offi- 
cer of the regiment. Colonel Byrd Williams, 
notified that he was unfit for duty. It be- 
came necessary to appoint a color-bearer im- 
mediately, and the Colonel called for a volun- 
teer to fill the place, which was a post of 
honor, but at the moment one of great dan- 
ger. There was some hesitation, until young 
Russell stepped forward to know if he would 
do; the banner was given into his hands. In 
the battle that ensued Colonel Williams was 
killed and the other field officers wounded, so 
that, when the battle was over, the regiment 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



45 



was commanded by a lieutenant. From that 
time on Russell was the color-bearer. 

The Forty-first was one of the regiments 
which composed Sharp's brigade of Mississip- 
pians, a part of Johnston's division, Lee's 
corps. At Franklin, late in the evening, 
November 30, 1864, Johnston's division was 
ordered forward, Brantley's brigade occupy- 
ing the extreme left of the division. Sharp's 
forming on Brantley's right. By those fami- 
liar with the topography of the field, and the 
part that Lee's men bore, it will be remem- 
bered that in front of Johnston's command 
was a locust thicket made famous by the 
trouble it occasioned when the Confederates 
encountered it in their forward movement. 
Those of the command who succeeded in forc- 
ing their way through or around the thorny 
obstruction and continuing the advance to the 
enemy's fortified line, there encountered an 
undismayed force which, for a time, refused 
to recede. Among the Confederates who in 



46 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

the charge reached this line was Russell, with 
his flag. Here he and his comrades found 
themselves on one side of the rampart, with 
an obstinate enemy on the other. It was then, 
calling to his friends to follow, he mounted 
the embankment and went over with his col- 
ors. In crossing the parapet there was a 
struggle with the enemy, a hand-to-hand con- 
test over the colors. At length, breaking 
away from his antagonists, Russell jumped 
down into the enemy's trench, followed by 
some of the Confederates. There they had, 
as It were, a bayonet fight in the dark. Only 
a small number were engaged, and the Con- 
federates succeeded In forcing the enemy out 
of his works, whereupon he retired to another 
line a short distance In the rear of that from 
which he had just been driven. Russell and 
his companions had to remain some time in 
the captured fortification. They dared not 
go forward again to charge the enemy in his 
new position, for that, they realized, meant 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN ^n 

inevitable death or certain capture. They 
were unable to withdraw by reason of the in- 
cessant firing of the Confederates on the other 
side of the rampart, it being impossible in the 
roar of arms and tumult of battle to communi- 
cate a request to their friends to cease firing 
long enough to permit their return. After 
a time there came a lull in the firing, of which 
Russell and his comrades took advantage to 
rccross the parapet and rejoin their command. 
Returning, they carried with them two stands 
of colors which he and those with him had 
captured in the hand-to-hand fight in the 
trenches. 

The firing on this part of the line was kept 
up until midnight. 

In the early morning the Federal firing be- 
came desultory, and a short time thereafter 
ceased entirely, when the Confederates again 
advanced, to find the enemy had fled. Rejoic- 
ing in their escape. General Schofield and his 



48 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

Union veterans, In hot haste, were hurrying 
on to Nashville. 

The lesson of the foregoing episode is that 
It established the fact that two out of three of 
the only stands of colors officially reported 
captured by the Confederates at Franklin were 
captured by E. L. Russell, the youthful Mis- 
sissipplan, and his handful of Incomparable 
followers. The daring of Russell, together 
with Its unforeseen, phenomenal success. Is 
without parallel. 

It was In this night charge of Johnston's 
division that the splendid young Lieutenant- 
Colonel of Blythe's Mississippi regiment, 
William H. Sims, afterward Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor of his State, lost a leg while gallantly 
leading his regiment In the forlorn hope In 
which the command was engaged. 

On the Confederate side there were less 
than twenty thousand men actually engaged. 
That is a proposition easy of demonstration. 
Only one division (Johnston's) of Lee's corps 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



49 



was in the battle, and but a part of French's 
division. The seven divisions engaged in the 
battle — Walthall's, Loring's and two bri- 
gades of French's (Sear's and Cockrell's) 
of Stewart's corps; Brown's, Cleburne's and 
Bate's of Cheatham's corps; and Ed. John- 
son's, of Lee's corps — had marched from 
Spring Hill to Franklin, a distance of more 
than twenty miles that day, in pursuit of the 
fleeing Federals under Schofield. The men 
were well-nigh worn out from the exertion of 
the forced march. Many had dropped out 
of line, and had not caught up, from sheer 
exhaustion. The Confederates were ill-pre- 
pared for the duty ahead of them. And yet, 
when the word was given, those who had 
proven equal to the fatigue of the hurried ad- 
vance fell into line and went forward to meet 
the dangers of the day with a courage and 
fortitude which were the very acme and pitch 
of patriotism. 

There were no recreants in their ranks. 
4 



so 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



There was no dallying because of the dan- 
gers confronting them. 

If the Confederate artillery had been vig- 
orously utilized, the enemy could have been 
dislodged. But It was not brought Into full 
play. The humane proprieties of the occa- 
sion forbade Its effective use. Only four 
guns were engaged on the Southern side, and 
they for but a short time. On the other 
hand, the roar of Federal cannon was Inces- 
santly terrific, and the carnage awful. Hood, 
although realizing the unequal contest In 
which he was engaged, when he saw the brav- 
est of his army being slaughtered In the re- 
peated desperate assaults upon the enemy's 
formidably fortified lines, did not forget the 
humanities nor Ignore the rules of civilized 
warfare. He was restrained In the use of his 
artillery because of the exposure to which Its 
heedless employment would have subjected 
the women and children of the sore-beset 
town. 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN ^i 

The loss among our officers was extraordi- 
narily great. General Hood mentions the 
names, elesewhere given, of two major-gen- 
erals and nine brigadier-generals among the 
killed and wounded, and one brigadier-gen- 
eral captured. 

In addition, there were forty-five regimen- 
tal commanders killed or wounded, and eight 
others missing. 

Think of that casualty list of commanding 
officers ! 

How eloquently it bears witness to gallant 
Confederate leadership ! 

How many color-bearers nobly died will 
never be accurately known until the Angel 
Gabriel sounds the last reveille to summon 
the quick and the dead to the final roll-call. 

Among the Mississippians, Major-General 
E. C. Walthall, matchless as a soldier, superb 
in conduct always and magnetic everywhere, 
— the Chevalier Bayard of the American 
armies, — had two horses killed under him, 



52 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



and was himself severely bruised, although he 
did not leave the field. His chief-of-staff, 
Captain W. R. Barksdale, was wounded, and 
his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant H. Powell, 
killed — both exceptionally Intelligent and 
fearless officers. And every other member of 
his staff was dismounted by having his horse 
shot from under him early in the action. 

The presence of mind which. In the hour of 
peril, rendered Walthall peerless and always 
enabled him to do the correct thing is Illus- 
trated by the following incident: He had 
just had two horses killed under him. The 
last one shot had scarce ceased his plunging 
and struggles from the death-wound, when, 
turning to a subaltern, the General said, "Let 
me have that horse, If you please." The sub- 
altern quickly assented. "Has this horse 
been appraised?" Inquired the General. 
"No, sir," came the reply, whereupon Wal- 
thall then and there had appraisers appointed 
and the value of the horse fixed. And it 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



53 



was all done, comparatively, in the twinkling 
of an eye. That is a thing never before pub- 
lished; and, I dare say, one that never before 
occurred under like surroundings. 

For a painter's brush no finer opportunity 
in the history of war was ever presented than 
that offered by the death of Brigadier-General 
John Adams leading his brigade of Mississip- 
pians. The serried ranks of his brave fol- 
lowers were being rapidly thinned — his men 
dropping from shot and shell like leaves 
falling in wintry weather. A color-bearer 
sinks; from his nerveless grasp the flag falls. 
But another quickly seizes the banner and 
promptly takes his place, to find a like fate. 
The enemy's outer line of works is gained. 
The Confederate emblem waves above the 
parapet for a moment, and again is forward. 
The foe, retiring precipitately, is further pur- 
sued by the victorious assailants. 

General Adams, reckless of life and limb, 
leads the charge. 



54 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



The colors everywhere are in the hands of 
men striving to be in advance. Ever and 
anon, in the headlong race for the second line 
— the interior works — a bearer falls, and a 
banner goes down, to be again unhesitatingly- 
seized and borne aloft, and on, by another 
hand. Each sees the danger, and spurns it, 
In the effort "to lead in Glory's fearful 
chase." 

The inner line of the enemy's works is 
gained, and the rebel yell is heard above the 
roar of cannon and rattle of musketry. It is 
the rejoicing shout of admiring comrades 
rushing to the assistance of the brave men in 
the van. 

Brave John Adams falls. 

Horse and rider go down as one. 

The horse lies across the interior breast- 
works. The leg of the intrepid, daring man 
is caught under the body of the animal. 

The foe, witnessing this dauntless ride into 
the jaws of death, are struck with admiration 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



55 



and rush to his rescue. The weight is lifted 
from the limb, his foot released from the stir- 
rup and he is tenderly borne over the parapet. 
The magnanimity of the act is splendid, but 
it cannot stay the life of the seven times 
wounded hero. Soon the end comes, and a 
few feet from the empty saddle lies the life- 
less form of the glorious rider of a moment 
ago. 

Riderless horse; horseless rider — side by 
side — each lifeless. 

Above the parapet of this inner line — this 
dead line — for a second waves a Confederate 
battle flag, but whoso plants the Southern 
Cross there challenges death by the act. The 
act becomes glorified suicide — suicide made 
sublime. 

Brigadier-General W. S. Featherstone, 
who seemed to delight in the shock of battle 
and, when there was need of personal expos- 
ure, courted danger as though it were a mere 
bauble — a toy to be played with — escaped un- 



^5 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

scathed. In his brigade the standard bear- 
ers of the Third and Twenty-second Missis- 
sippi regiments "planted their colors on the 
enemy's works, and were wounded and cap- 
tured with their colors. The color bearer of 
the Thirty-third [Mississippi] was killed 
some fifteen paces from the works, when 
Lieutenant H. C. Shaw, Company K, carried 
them forward, and, when in the act of plant- 
ing them on the works, was killed, his body 
falling in the trenches, the colors falling in 
the works." (Featherstone's report to 
Major-General Loring, December 9, 1864.) 
The Fifteenth Mississippi [Adams's brigade] 
lost its colors, but not until "four men were 
shot down bearing it." (Lowry's report to 
Major-General Loring, December 9, 1864.) 

Never did mortals behave more hand- 
somely. 

The spirit and fortitude shown were god- 
like. 

Inspired by the principle back of the cause 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



57 



for which they were contending, and incited 
by the patriotic ardor of their compatriots in 
the other armies, and by their love of home 
and hearthstone, there was no limit to their 
prowess. 

The contagion of enthusiasm and example 
was everywhere. 

Soldierly courage became epidemic and, in 
generous rivalry men unconsciously vied each 
to outdo the other in heroism. 

The colors of the Fifteenth Mississippi fell 
into the hands of the Federals under the fol- 
lowing circumstances: 

When ordered into battle the flag was 
borne by Charles Frierson, of Company F, 
who, when several hundred yards distant 
from the enemy's fortified line, was severely 
wounded. As he fell the flag was picked up 
by another soldier, name unknown to the 
writer, who bore it only a short distance be- 
fore he was killed. The banner was then 
taken by still another soldier, name unknown, 



58 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



who carried it safely until the bois d'arc hedge 
was reached. There he fell. Then Private 
McMath of Company E, after making an 
opening through the obstruction, grasped the 
flag, and shouting, "Come this way, boys!" 
rushed forward with it. When he reached 
the fortified line he attempted to go over the 
embankment, and was shot and so seriously 
wounded that he was caught, pulled over the 
line into the enemy's trench and, with his col- 
ors, captured. 

Another unusual incident, showing the 
spirit that pervaded the men of this (Fif- 
teenth Mississippi) regiment, is worthy of 
record. Private W. P. Peacock, of Company 
G, had a short time previously been ex- 
changed, and, returning to duty, reached his 
command that morning. Having just re- 
ported to his company, there had been no op- 
portunity to provide him with arms before 
the battle began. Anxious to be with his 
comrades in the impending battle, and de- 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 59 

termined not to be outdone, he said to them, 
"Men, I have no gun; but I am going into 
this fight, and will carry an axe!" This he 
did, and when the command reached the bois 
d'arc hedge, and could advance no further. 
Private Peacock was there with his axe, and, 
seeing the trouble, at once commenced to cut 
the hedge to make openings. Bravely he 
stuck to his self-imposed task and, strange 
to relate, notwithstanding the galling fire to 
which he was thus exposed, he passed through 
the battle unharmed by the enemy's missiles. 

The God of Battles, it seems to me, ex- 
tended His special providence to this brave 
man, and thus made possible his escape un- 
harmed from the Sheol of shot and shell 
through which he went on that dread day. 

As an illustration of the intrepidity of men 
who go into battle when they have a well- 
defined conviction that going in is duty, and 
duty will end in death; and that such 
antecedent impressions of calamitous things 



5o THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

about to happen do, now and then in a sol- 
dier's career, happen as anticipated, I will 
here give a remarkable instance which I am 
sure has never before been published. It, too, 
is in connection with the Fifteenth Missis- 
sippi Infantry and the field of Franklin — on 
which occasion it may be mentioned, en pas- 
sant, the regiment lost thirteen out of the 
twenty-one officers who participated in the 
battle. The Fifteenth Mississippi belonged 
to Adams's brigade, Loring's division, Stew- 
art's corps. On the morning of November 
30, 1864, it was following the retreating 
enemy from Springhill to Franklin. They 
arrived in sight of Franklin after mid-day 
and, a little later, were put in position on the 
Confederate right, and not very far from the 
Harpeth River. There they rested on their 
arms possibly two or more hours, waiting for 
other troops, Cheatham's probably, to come 
up and take position. While they were near, 
or maybe on, "the De Graff enried farm," 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 6i 

two miles, perhaps, from Franklin, a young 
man (brother to a member of Company E, 
Fifteenth Mississippi, who had been permit- 
ted that morning to go by the home of his 
father, near Thompson's Station) came to 
Lieutenant Charles H. Campbell, of the 
company, bringing him a lot of provisions, 
with the compliments of the absentee brother 
and his family. The food was much needed, 
and was a godsend. Lieutenant Campbell, 
perceiving the abundance, called Colonel 
Mike Farrell, commanding the regiment. 
Captain Smith, and Lieutenant Allen, of his 
own company, to join him. Colonel Farrell, 
realizing there was more than enough bounti- 
fully to go around, asked permission to in- 
vite Lieutenant-Colonel Rover, of the Twen- 
tieth Mississippi, and Major Crumpton, 
Fourteenth Mississippi. Lieutenant Camp- 
bell also invited Captain Roland Jones, Ray- 
burn's battalion, and Major Bruner, Twelfth 
Louisiana, to share in the meal, which, to 



52 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

those wearied, war-worn, an-hungered veter- 
ans, was a feast deemed fit for the gods. The 
meal was eaten in haste, each officer with his 
belt buckled on and side-arms in place, for 
momentarily they were expecting orders to 
move upon the enemy in the fortified town. 
While eating, the impending battle was freely 
discussed by those eight officers, all of whom 
were in serious, thoughtful mood. Two only 
were optimistic. The other six took a 
gloomy view of the situation. The latter 
frankly expressed the opinion that the ap- 
proaching battle would end the chapter of 
their respective lives. They anticipated it 
was to be the finale to their individual en- 
deavors as Confederate soldiers. They had 
presentiments that when it was over their rec- 
ords for time and eternity would be made up ; 
that for them the curtain would not only be 
rung down upon the last scene of the last 
drama of war, but that with its fall the end 
to their earthly careers would be at hand. 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 63 

And they substantially so expressed them- 
selves. Sadder prognostications it would be 
difficult to imagine. Prognostications more 
swiftly, and direfully, fulfilled it would be im- 
possible to discover. Before the sun went 
down six out of the eight received mortal 
wounds. Lieutenant-Colonel Rover, Major 
Crumpton, Major Brunner, Captain Smith, 
and Lieutenant Allen fell dead upon the field, 
the last two in such quick succession that poor 
Allen fell almost across the body of his dead 
captain, who preceded him to the Farther 
Shore by less than half a minute. In close 
proximity to the spot on which these two fell, 
and almost simultaneously with them, seven- 
teen others of the same company were killed 
or wounded. Colonel Farrell, a young and 
brilliant officer, was shot through both legs, 
the left being so badly shattered it had to be 
amputated. He spent an agonizing night on 
the field, and the next morning was gently 
carried by faithful friends to the near-by 



64 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

home of Honorable John McGavock, where 
he remained until death relieved him of 
his sufferings. The other two of the 
eight, Captain Roland Jones and Lieuten- 
ant Charles H. Campbell, were seriously 
wounded — each crippled for life — and left 
upon the field in agony unspeakable to spend 
the night. Captain Jones died after the war. 
Lieutenant Campbell is yet alive, — limping 
from wounds received that day, — and Is a 
fine specimen of the kindly hearted, loyal, and 
loving old Confederates who honored 
America by the fidelity and courage with 
which they upheld the honor of the flag of 
the Confederacy. 

Lieutenant-Colonel James R. Binford was 
not serving with his regiment (the Fifteenth 
Mississippi) on that day. As Providence 
would have it, Lleutenant-General Alex. P. 
Stewart was utilizing him in the capacity of 
a staff officer, In which position he rendered 
distinguished service. After the battle he 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



6S 



was returned to his regiment, succeeding the 
high-souled Farrell to its command, and, a 
fortnight later, was conspicuous for courage 
and efficient conduct in the battles, December 
15 and 16, at Nashville, Tennessee. 

Colonel Robert Lowry (Sixth Mississippi) 
is another hero who went through it all un- 
hurt, and yet so nobly did his part that 
Adams's mantle fell to his shoulders, and he 
worthily wore the brigadier's stars and 
wreath until the end came. When the war 
was over he was rewarded by a grateful 
people, by whom he was elected Chief Magis- 
trate of Mississippi. 

General Adams fell to the Confederate 
right of the Columbia pike, which ran hard 
by the famous gin-house, on either side of 
which the conflict raged as ferociously as if 
wild beasts, and not men, were engaged. 

At no great distance from where Adams 
fell, and not far from the old gin-house, 
5 



56 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

which was Immediately in rear of the left 
center of the enemy's interior fortified line, 
another young Mississippian had a flag expe- 
rience, but, happily, fared better than his 
color-bearing comrades of Loring's division. 
He was serving as adjutant of the Twenty- 
ninth Alabama, in obedience to the following 
order : 

"Headquarters Cantey's Brigade, 

"November 25, 1864. 
"Special Order No. 

"Application having been made for the 
appointment of R. W. Banks, sergeant-major 
Thirty-seventh Mississippi Regiment, as ad- 
jutant of the Twenty-ninth Alabama, he is 
hereby assigned to duty as acting-adjutant of 
said regiment, and will be obeyed and re- 
spected as such. 

"By order of Brigadier-General Chas. M. 
Shelley. 

"W. K. McCONNELL, 

"Lieutenant & A. A. A. General." 
The application alluded to in the forego. 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 67 

ing order was made a few days previously by 
Colonel J. F. Conoley, Twenty-ninth Ala- 
bama Infantry, and was addressed to S. 
Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector-General, 
Richmond, Virginia. 

To make the incident about to be related 
more readily understood, an extract from 
Walthall's official report will be made. It 
will give an idea of the organization, the po- 
sitions, and movements of the command at 
the opening of the battle. 

'*We thereupon left the pike [Columbia 
and Franklin] and moved to the right 
through woods and fields until about a 
mile and a quarter of the town. Here a line 
was formed to attack the enemy, who, by our 
last movement, had been compelled to with- 
draw to his works around the town. My 
command, now numbering but 1400 guns, 
was the center of the corps and presented 
two brigades front, (Quarles's on the right, 
Reynolds's on the left,) with Cantey's under 
command of Brigadier-General C. M. Shel- 



68 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

ley, in reserve. The advance was ordered 
about four o'clock, and my instructions were 
in making it to conform to the movements of 
the division on my right. There was an im- 
penetrable brier thicket of considerable ex- 
tent immediately in front of my left brigade, 
and Brigadier-General Reynolds was directed, 
when the line was put in motion, to make his 
way around it, and when he had gotten upon 
the ground that would enable him to do so, 
to move up at double-quick and resume in the 
line. After moving a short distance the line 
of the corps, which had become somewhat 
disordered by reason of the broken ground 
and undergrowth, when they had passed, was 
halted and reformed. Here Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Shelley, whose brigade had followed 
Quarles's, was directed to move up and take 
the position assigned to Brigadier-General 
Reynolds, who, without fault of himself or 
his command, had not been able to regain his 
place in the line by reason of the natural ob- 
stacles in the way of his march. Brigadier- 
General Shelley came promptly upon the 
line, and in a few moments afterward, when 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 69 

the entire line was rectified, the advance was 
resumed. Both officers and men seemed alive 
to the importance of beating the enemy here 
at any cost, and the line moved steadily for- 
ward until it neared his outer works, and 
then fell upon it so impetuously that the op- 
posing force gave way without retarding the 
advance, and retired in disorder to the strong 
intrenchments in the rear. There was an ex- 
tensive, open, and almost unbroken plain be- 
tween the outer and inner lines, across which 
we must pass to reach the latter. This was 
done under far the most deadly fire of both 
small-arms and artillery that I have ever seen 
troops subjected to. Terribly torn at every 
step by an oblique fire from a battery ad- 
vantageously posted at the enemy's left, no 
less than by the destructive fire in front, the 
line moved on and did not falter till, just to 
the right of the pike, it reached the abatis 
fronting the works. Over this no organized 
force could go, and here the main body of my 
command, both front line and reserve, was 
repulsed in confusion ; but over this obstacle, 
impassable for a solid line, many officers and 



70 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



men (among them Brigadier-General Shel- 
ley) made their way, and some, crossing the 
ditch in its rear, were captured and others 
killed or wounded in the effort to mount the 
embankment. Numbers of every brigade 
gained the ditch, and there continued the 
struggle with but the earthworks separating 
them from the enemy until late in the night." 

The field and staff of regiments had been 
dismounted, as a precautionary protective 
measure to the officers, and the horses sent to 
the rear, before the action began. For some 
time after the resumption of the advance, to 
which General Walthall in his report refers 
with particularity as occurring a few mo- 
ments after the entire line had been rectified, 
Adjutant Banks was near the extreme right 
of the regiment, which was moving at a 
double quick. The situation was becoming 
critical. The firing was increasing in intens- 
ity, and there was a music in the air more or 
less disturbing to men of stout hearts, to say 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



71 



nothing of its effect upon persons of weak 
nerves and easy resolution. At one time, 
under these conditions, General Charles M. 
Shelley, the brigade commander, — a brave, 
competent officer, always on the alert, and in- 
telligent to do the right thing at the right 
time, — who was riding a short distance to the 
right of the regiment, discovered some confu- 
sion in the regimental line. Spurring his 
horse toward the Twenty-ninth Alabama, he 
rode in speaking distance of the Adjutant, 
whom he recognized, and said, "Banks, where 
are your colors? Your men are wavering!" 
Captain Alfred V. Gardner, senior captain 
present, was in command of the Twenty- 
ninth. He at that time was opposite the 
center of the regiment and leading it. Only 
a few days before he had returned to duty 
from a sick leave, and was still weak, and 
easily fatigued. In response to General 
Shelley's inquiry and suggestive comment, 
the Adjutant, already at double quick, quick- 



72 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

ened his pace and ran from the right of the 
regiment obliquely down the line until he 
came across Captain Gardner. 

Before gaining the side of Captain Gard- 
ner, he shouted out, "Bring forward the col- 
ors! Bring the colors to the front!" The 
color-bearer promptly lengthened his stride. 
Captain Gardner, looking back to see what 
the matter was, shortened his step until the 
colors were brought forward, when he quickly 
reached out, took possession of them, and 
quickened his pace. By this time the Adju- 
tant was at Captain Gardner's side, the two 
a few paces in advance of the charging line, 
the men of which were advancing gallantly, 
although not preserving anything like a dress- 
parade alignment. Indeed, it was no time 
for exact observance of the niceties of drill, 
even had it been possible to execute move- 
ments with the precision of a battalion pass- 
ing in review. Keeping immediately to the 
right, and almost in touch of him, Adjutant 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



73 



Banks soon discovered that the strength of 
Captain Gardner was well-nigh spent. The 
command was at a considerable distance 
from the enemy's interior works. Banks, 
seeing Gardner's exhaustion, seized the flag- 
staff, saying, "Give me the colors! I can get 
there. Captain, quicker than you!" Gard- 
ner, realizing his exhausted condition, re- 
linquished the colors to the Adjutant who, 
shouting, "Come on, boys!" struck forth at 
his own gait and quickly shot ahead, closely 
followed by a number of officers and men. 
The convergent fire to which the command 
was subjected became terrific, and there was 
little order in the charging line. The only 
concert of action conspicuously evident was 
the purpose and effort on the part of both of- 
ficers and men to get to the enemy's fortified 
line and drive him out quickly as possible. 
The direction pursued by Adjutant Banks 
carried him to the pike, at a point south- 
wardly from the gin-house, which was near 



74 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



the pike and near the enemy's interior forti- 
fied line. Striking the pike then, and finding 
the traveling along it so much better than 
the rough ground he had just gone over, he 
stuck to it until he passed through, and be- 
yond, the abatis, which did not obstruct the 
pike. He then left the pike, going left 
obliquely to the ditch which was between the 
abatis and earthworks. This point was a 
salient In the enemy's line, and here had been 
erected a sort of bastion as though intended 
for artillery, and the moat or ditch, around 
the outer side of it, while not deep was wide. 
When Adjutant Banks reached the ditch he 
found a few men already entering it. These 
and those that came with and after him filled 
it. The men who got to the ditch, it should 
be said, belonged to no one command, but 
represented various regiments of different 
brigades and divisions. Working his way 
through the crouching men to the edge of the 
escarpment, and finding that no one could go 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 75 

to the top of the parapet, much less go over 
it, and escape instant death, even if the men 
had been fresh, instead of being, as they 
were, exhausted by the great distance over 
which they had just raced, he stood upon the 
escarpment and planted the colors, the staff 
to which was shod with a steel point, as high 
upon the embankment as he could reach to 
strike the point in the earth, and then 
stooped, as closely to the earth as possible, 
for protection. The flag at once became a 
target upon which the enemy's fire concen- 
trated. It was kept flying from a little after 
five o'clock until after nine o'clock that night. 
During that time, there being only the scarp 
and parapet between the Union forces and 
the Confederates, the firing was practically 
incessant — the din and uproar frightful. 

In efforts to repulse the attack, some of 
those behind the breastworks held their guns 
overhead, with muzzles pointing downward 
across the parapet, and thus fired, striving to 



76 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



inflict the greatest damage upon the assail- 
ants with the least exposure to themselves. 
This particular point was enfiladed with fear- 
ful effect. So thick were the dead and 
wounded in the ditch there, it became a sort 
of out-door "chamber of horrors." When 
night came down, the groans and frenzied 
cries of wounded on both sides of the earth- 
works were awe-inspiring. The ravings of 
the maimed and mangled victims were heart- 
rending. Crazed by pain, many knew not 
what they did or said. Some pleadingly 
cried out, "Cease firing! Cease firing!" while 
others agonizingly were shouting, "We sur- 
render! We surrender!" 

And here it may be interesting, however 
painful to those who may have had friends 
or brothers there, to mention an instance il- 
lustrative of how callous even a band of 
brothers may become in the hour of supreme 
suffering and helplessness. 

When the colors of the Twenty-ninth Ala- 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



77 



bama were planted on the enemy's fortified 
line, the Confederates were huddled in the 
ditch like sheep in a shambles. They had not 
been there long before men were being killed 
and wounded in more rapid succession than 
the writer ever saw before or since. They 
were crowded as closely as it was possible for 
them to be and were practically helpless. To 
go over the works was certain death, or 
wounds or capture. To run to the rear, aside 
from the shame of it, was almost of equal 
hazard. To remain was to accept the most 
fearful odds imaginable in favor of death. 
It was a perilous hour, in which the confusion 
much of the time was so great it seemed 
neither Fame could tell who bled nor Hon- 
or's eye discern daring deed. The situation 
for four agonizing hours was appalling. 

We had not been there five minutes before 
a fair-faced, blue-eyed, beardless youth, ap- 
parently about seventeen, was severely 
wounded in the neck. He evidently had not 



78 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



been long In the service, for he had a knap- 
sack which could not have seen much usage. 
No one of us knew his name or regiment. 
When the ball struck him he cried out, "Oh, 
I am wounded!" and his head fell backward 
against the man in his rear. We tried to do 
something for him. No bandage or rag 
could be had. In a little while, gasping, the 
poor boy began to struggle with his arms and 
legs, but the crowd was so dense there was 
small room for movement. Death was hold- 
ing high carnival. Man after man was 
either killed or wounded in quicker time than 
it takes to write this account of it. Nothing 
could be done for him or them. And so he 
was permitted to continue his struggles — his 
fight for life — until he had nearly worked 
himself into a reclining position. In the 
meantime, as the carnage grew, the first law 
of nature asserted itself, and those in greatest 
danger began to think only of themselves. 
Before death came to their unfortunate com- 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



79 



rade, who had lost consciousness, men were 
sitting or kneeling upon his prostrate body. 
While his life-blood oozed away, they, seem- 
ingly, were as callous as though such misery 
was a thing of dally occurrence, and to be 
unaffected In Its presence was natural. 

Along toward nine o'clock the firing be- 
gan to slacken. Away off to the enemy's left 
It would begin, and could be heard coming 
along down the line, with brief Intermissions, 
growing gradually louder as It approached 
and passed, and then die away In the distance, 
as It receded. It was Irregular, unmethodi- 
cal. Inconstant. 

So, noting that, the Adjutant, who had es- 
caped unharmed, and was anxious to be 
among personal friends (for he knew not a 
single man out of all those In his Immediate 
neighborhood) and bear the flag safely back 
to his regiment, determined about nine 
o'clock, or a little later, perhaps, to make a 
break, and take the chances of retiring, there 



8o THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

being with him at that time, so far as he 
could see or judge, few but the dead and 
wounded. 

During a lull, after the firing had become 
desultory, the Adjutant rose, preparatory to 
leaving the ditch. When disengaging the 
staff from its hold in the earth, it broke off, 
about two-thirds of its length up, and the 
banner fell over toward him. Pulling the 
lower piece out of the ground and attempt- 
ing to furl the flag, he found the staff broken 
in another place. Then he rolled the pieces 
in the folds of the banner and withdrew. 

In making his way from the escarpment 
to the outer edge of the ditch his feet did not 
once touch the ground. At every step his 
foot rested upon a man, so thick were the 
killed and wounded in the ditch. Out of the 
ditch, making his way straight from the 
works to the rear, he directly encountered the 
abatis, but it interposed little obstruction, as 
he was going through it from the butt ends 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN gl 

of the brush — and from the enemy, too — In 
the direction the limbs grew. Emerging 
from the abatis, he stepped upon, and over, 
a dead horse lying almost at the brush. 
About it were many victims of the fight, there 
having been no possible chance up to that 
time to move the dead or helpless wounded 
from the field. When the firing was brisk 
he would lie flat upon the ground; during 
the lulls he would break into a run. In this 
way he continued until he struck the turnpike, 
and then, the distance justifying, he more 
leisurely pursued his way. Presently he saw 
a small camp-fire in a slight depression near 
the pike, and to the left as he was traveling. 
Several persons were about it. 

He hailed to inquire, '*Can you tell me 
where I will find Walthall's division?" A 
voice, which he recognized as that of Captain 
Sam Abernethy, of the Twenty-ninth Ala- 
bama, answered, "Yes ! Here is General 

Walthall." He advanced to the fire, and was 
6 



82 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

rejoiced to find General Walthall of Missis- 
sippi, General Reynolds of Arkansas, Cap- 
tain George M. Govan of Mississippi, inspec- 
tor on Walthall's staff, and Captain Sam 
Abernethy, with each of whom he was per- 
sonally acquainted. Dropping his colors at 
General Walthall's feet, he said, "General, 
here's yer colors!" The General, who knew 
him, and felt an interest in him, expressed 
pleasure and surprise at his escape. General 
Shelley having told him, so he said, that he 
thought "Banks had been killed." 

The General, then, in reply to inquiries as 
to how he and certain members of his staff 
and other friends had fared, told Adjutant 
Banks of the safety of General Shelley — of 
Captain Barksdale's wound, and Lieutenant 
Powell's death; and of having three of his 
horses killed — two shot from under him, and 
one, a very fine saddle-horse, shot under his 
younger brother, George, who that day re- 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 



83 



ceived his baptismal fire, and stood it like a 
veteran. 

The next day, December i. Adjutant Banks 
was assigned to duty as an aide-de-camp on 
General Walthall's staff. 

On examining the colors the morning 
after the battle, it was found that the staff 
had been hit in five separate places, and was 
brought off the field in three pieces. The 
banner itself was so badly riddled it really 
was in tatters. Indeed, the flag was so shot 
up it was literally ''put out of business," and 
rendered unfit for further service except as a 
relic. The writer is under the Impression that 
it was turned over to the ordnance sergeant 
of the regiment, but he is not sure of it. At 
any rate, he has never known what finally be- 
came of it. The color-bearer, from whom 
Captain Gardner received it during the 
charge, was seriously wounded In the battle, 
and so was Captain Gardner, who was, also, 
captured. Adjutant Banks had a hole shot 



84 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

through his coat and one through his hat, 
but escaped without a scratch. 

Ector's brigade was on detached duty and 
missed Franklin, but the other two brigades 
of French's division, Sears's and Cockrell's, 
were present and suffered fearfully. Briga- 
dier-General Quarles, of Walthall's division, 
was severely wounded, losing a leg, and lost, 
by death, every member of his staff. So ter- 
ribly effective was the fire of the enemy, and 
so fearlessly led were the men of Quarles's 
brigade, that not only was the general com- 
manding seriously wounded, and his staff com- 
pletely wiped out, but every field officer of the 
brigade fell, either killed or wounded, leaving 
a captain of the line in command as ranking 
officer. Sears's force, too, sustained an enor- 
mous loss in killed and wounded, among the 
former being the genial, gentle, gallant Colo- 
nel Witherspoon, Thirty-sixth Mississippi, 
who, booted and spurred, fell in battle at a 
time and on a spot and in a manner and amid 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 85 

surroundings which ought to cause a thrill of 
pride to fill the heart of every Mississippian 
at the mention of his name. 

One cannot do justice, in speaking or writ- 
ing, to the officers and men of either French's, 
Loring's, or Walthall's division without em- 
ploying superlatives. To exaggerate their 
valor would be Impossible. And yet, as 
much as has been said of the deeds of Stew- 
art's men, rank and file, so much may be said 
of those of Lee's and Cheatham's corps who 
were put Into the thickest of the fight, as 
were Stewart's, on that day of ordeals in 
which the spirit of the Southern soldier was 
tested to the last extreme and. In every ex- 
tremity, found dauntless. 

To very many the foregoing doubtless will 
appear as the extravagant hyperbole of a 
sedulously communicative old soldier. But It 
will not be so rated by the survivors of that 
night of horrors, some of whom yet live, who 
passed along the Columbia and Franklin pike 



86 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

the following morning, December i, 1864, 
and saw the human hecatombs — the victims 
being of the very choice and flower of the 
Army of Tennessee — piled near the old gin- 
house, which itself, scarred by shot and shell, 
was an inanimate but eloquent witness to the 
havoc of the day. 

Of all the grewsome sights of war, nothing 
better calculated to affright and demoralize 
an army could have been devised than the 
exhibition of the dead, as they appeared to 
those who viewed them there in marching by 
the gin-house that morning. 

Why any considerable portion of the army 
which had encountered so many dangers and 
undergone so many discouraging, heart- 
breaking experiences In the recent past, under 
Johnston as well as Hood, should have been 
permitted to witness that sickening, blood- 
curdling, fear-kindling sight Is difficult to 
understand, when it might so easily have been 
avoided by a slight detour in the line of 
march. That was in daylight — the immedi- 



THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 87 

ate danger had passed — ^but the hell of war 
was depicted cruelly in the ghastly upturned 
faces of the dead. The darkness of the pre- 
ceding night kindly shut out such sights from 
our eyes. Still the situation was none the less 
uncanny. For we knew the dead were all 
around and about us, and that danger was 
imminent, — that it lurked in the air, — and 
we were made unhappily to realize the hell 
of it by the harrowing, heart-breaking cries 
of our mangled friends, and by our utter 
helplessness to give them any relief while 
under the pitiless, murderous fire of an en- 
trenched enemy whom, after the most heroic 
efforts, we found it impossible to dislodge. 

Nothing like it was ever before witnessed. 
God grant nothing like it may ever be wit- 
nessed again ! For, after all, it resulted in a 
victory barren of fruits. The cause for 
which our side contended with so much valor 
was finally lost; and widows and orphans 
were made to pine in starving solitude, until 



38 THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN 

the desolated land was rehabilitated by the 
dauntless hearts-courageous paroled by Grant 
and Sherman. 

The Union forces were commanded by 
General John M. Schofield, a brave officer 
possessing much of the genius of common 
sense. He well understood the situation, and 
the importance to General Thomas, at Nash- 
ville, of delaying General Hood, as well, 
also, as the importance of the safety of his 
own command. To a clear perception of his 
duty, and the responsibility resting upon him 
and his army, he added absolute loyalty to 
obligation. These admirable soldierly quali- 
ties made him equal to the occasion, else his 
force, which, fortunately for the Union cause, 
escaped, would have been ousted, routed, and 
converted into a fleeing mob; for the Con- 
federates performed such prodigies of valor 
on that occasion that no troops not well- 
officered and gallantly commanded would 
have withstood such repeated impetuous and 
intrepid assaults. 



OCl 



